Napoleon (Animal Farm)
Napoleon was the main antagonist of Animal Farm. He was Squealer's former leader and boss. Biography After Old Major's death, Napoleon and Snowball assumed control and orchestrated a revolution, successfully overthrowing their irresponsible farmer and his "regime" that had been oppressing the animals in the farm. Napoleon was initially considered a war hero; unfortunately, he soon became extremely corrupt, selfish, and greedy, chasing Snowball away in order to declare himself leader of Animal Farm and enacting changes to the administration structure of the farm by replacing communal meetings with a committee of pigs who had the power to pass laws. As he grew more powerful, he began employing cruel methods to dispose of animals whom he deemed a threat and adopted tyrannical policies almost identical to those used by the humans, even making hypocritical changes to the sacred Seven Commandments of Animalism which was Animal Farm's core belief system. Throughout the book, Napoleon constantly slandered Snowball, branding him a traitor who was working for Mr. Jones. His acts of villainy include exercising despotic control over his fellow animals, killing his own "comrades" who were allegedly allied with Snowball, seizing nine puppies with the selfish intent of raising them as his personal killer guard dogs, and ordering multiple indiscriminate executions of his farm citizens. During the story, (and movie adaptations) Napoleon saw both Snowball and Boxer as a threat and eventually succeeded in removing the both of them from his farm state. By end of the book, Napoleon and his fellow pigs (minus Snowball, who ran afoul of Napoleon and was disposed of) and human allies are so corrupt that the other animals can no longer tell the difference between the pigs and the humans. In the 1954 adaptation, it shows Napoleon and his fellow pigs (again, minus Snowball) drunk and yelling. Just like the book, the animals could no longer tell the difference between the pigs and the humans. Napoleon's fate varies in adaptations. In the animated movie, (Animal Farm: 1954) he and the other pigs are killed by the rebelling animals when they stampede into their dining hall. In the live-action version of the book, (Animal Farm: 1999) his exact fate is unknown, but his government collapsed and a family of humans purchased the farm. Personality Napoleon was a ruthless, hypocritical dictator defined by his unquenchable thirst for power. Remorseless and possibly psychopathic, Napoleon abused his power as soon he obtained it and was only concerned with furthering his own selfish goals rather than benefitting Animal Farm. He was manipulative and charismatic, able to inspire the other animals to turn against Snowball's vision of a peaceful Animal Farm, although it could be argued that Snowball had visions of dictatorship himself. Although he initially presented a façade of self-effacing modesty, describing himself as "a practical pig of few words" who would "work hard and say little", Napoleon predominantly used words to manipulate others and was a narcissistic elitist, ordering many poems and songs be written about himself, singing his praises as the savior and leader of Animal Farm and insisting that it revert to its original name of Manor Farm after he had established himself as its dictator and succeeded in rallying the other farmers to his cause. He was also a hedonistic alcoholic who sired many illegitimate piglets. Whilst obviously intelligent and self-confident, Napoleon rarely contributed any ideas of his own, preferring to discredit the ideas of his opponents and then claim those ideas as his own once he had driven out his rivals. Napoleon was vengeful and bitter, having had to fight his way to power through cruelty and cunning as a result of being the smallest of his litter of pigs. He saw the world as a socially Darwinistic place where the ends always justified the means. Despite his vicious and misanthropic nature, Napoleon could be charming and affable in the presence of humans and other animals. Appearance * Napoleon is described as a mature stud boar, although he was the runt of his litter and had to fight for food growing up in order to become big and strong, contributing to his socially Darwinistic view of the world and of his place in it. During his reign over the farm, he becomes quite overweight due to his excessive eating and alcoholism. In the animated film, he is depicted as bipedal, sneering and imperious, wearing dark, double-breasted suits. In the live-action film, he is depicted with black and white fur. Trivia * Napoleon bears similarities to various real-life dictators (though he was based on Joseph Stalin), such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Mao Zedong and Kim Jong-il. * Though he tends to be associated with Joseph Stalin, Napoleon arguably represents Communist Russia as a whole, while Snowball represented the Provisional Government that was overthrown in the October Revolution, and Old Major represented the principles of Marxism. * Napoleon is similar to other fictional villains such as Iago and Palpatine as he is a Machiavellian manipulator who works through others to gain power whilst presenting himself as a benevolent individual. Gallery Coming soon! 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